How to create a successful LinkedIn article

LinkedIn is a powerful tool for connecting with customers and potential new business. There are now 347 million active users on the social network - a number too large to ignore.

LinkedIn can be used as a crucial tool in business

If you are currently using LinkedIn as a marketing and networking tool, you’ll have seen many people now publishing longer posts, which is LinkedIn’s version of blogging.

The social network has now rolled out publishing to everyone, so there is a lot more competition when it comes to getting longer articles read.

While it is tempting to use articles to promote products and events, the ones that are most successful tend to avoid sales pitches and aim to find solutions to specific problems readers may face.

How can your contributions cut through the crowd and be seen?

1. Choose a great title

A great title is the first thing people see and will often determine whether a reader will click through to the main article or not.

Poor title examples include:

• “New event launching”

• “New blog up”

• “'Your company name here' launches new service”

These titles won’t work as they offer no value to your reader and are over promotional.

When writing articles for LinkedIn, you should always try and provide readers with specific assistance in your area of expertise as opposed to simply discussing your business.

Keep your titles educational. If you are an expert in your industry then flaunt your expertise by revealing a new way of approaching a subject or by teaching the audience how to do elements of your job themselves.

This will demonstrate that you are a leader in your industry and will establish your reputation as a reliable source of information. In doing this, you'll soon see a positive effect in terms of new leads and networking opportunities.

2 - Great cover image

If your cover image is a dull stock photo that everyone else is using people will automatically associate it with other content. The key is to have eye-catching and original artwork that relates to the topic you’ll cover in your post.

Free tools such as Canva or Pic Monkey will allow you to design your own image that reflects the originality and personality of the article. You can use elements of stock photos from places like Canva or Dollarphoto club.

You should check images are the correct size to make your posts look professional, helping your article stand out and encourage more click throughs.

3 - Great content

Once you have that perfect title and the perfect picture it is important that your content is equally attention grabbing.

As well as being relevant, your article needs to be unique. Repeating information that can be found elsewhere will not showcase your expertise and will make for an uninspiring read. It will also dissuade readers from engaging with other articles you may write in the future and will have a long-term impact on both your personal and brand reputation.

Make sure your content will last the test of time. News and reactive articles are good but sharing information that will provide value for weeks or even months to come will ensure you'll increase your views and shares.

By investing in creating a great article now means you’ll eventually save time, and it is preferable to write articles that get a high number of views than to write a number of sub-standard pieces on a weekly basis.

4 - Share

If you want those views, likes and comments, then it’s time to start promoting your content.

You should share your post on sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram to engage with potential readers across all social media platforms.

The same applies if you have a mailing list or send newsletters on a regular basis. Sharing increases content awareness, so promoting your articles will have a significant impact on your engagement levels.

Don't just share once. Make a schedule as to when you will share your content in the future, this way more of your audience will see your article over time.